Headaches represent one of the most common health complaints expressed by adults all around the world. We may call them tension headaches or migraines and we may try to find ways to cope with frequent bouts of pain. Rarely, though, do most people explore what’s going on beneath the surface of their pain. Here, we…
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For the body to function properly, it relies on several vitamins and minerals. Magnesium is a mineral that supports nerve function, heart rhythm, blood pressure regulation, and bone health. Studies suggest that magnesium deficiency, which affects nearly 75% of Americans, can cause muscle cramps, nausea, low appetite, fatigue, and other symptoms. Some studies also suggest…
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Most of us are familiar, at least vaguely, with what it means to have a migraine headache. Occipital neuralgia, however, is another story. This inflammatory condition that affects the occipital nerves at the back of the neck and head is much, much less well-known. The term may be used primarily by physicians who diagnose and…
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It isn’t difficult to identify the symptoms of a migraine. Those who experience these headaches often have to retreat to dark spaces in an attempt to manage excruciating pain coupled with vision problems, nausea, or a host of other symptoms. One of the prominent indications of a migraine besides the degree of pain is the…
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The diagnosis and treatment of migraine headaches have historically been relatively complicated. Patients needing relief from recurring migraine symptoms have often expressed frustration at the lack of lasting results they have been able to achieve with help from their doctor. We understand this frustration, and we are committed to paving a new way for our…
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Not all headaches are created equal. Some people experience occasional tension headaches. Some get migraines every so often. Cluster headaches are another common cause of head pain. For those who struggle with frequent pain, it is helpful to gain an understanding of the potential underlying cause so appropriate care may be found. Here, we discuss…
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Migraine headaches can ruin a life. Added frustrations from bouncing between different unsuccessful treatments and doctors can create a perfect storm of helplessness and hopelessness. Migraine Surgery aims to break that cycle and provide long-lasting, significant relief from migraine pain. Los Angeles now has access to that therapy. Let’s do some math. Nearly 1/4 of…
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I was called by a prospective patient today who was clearly confused about the recommendations she had gotten from her other doctors. This very nice woman from Fort Collins, Colorado has suffered headache pain for many years since a whiplash accident. This story is classic for chronic headache pain that can be treated with migraine…
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Today I did a Google search for Migraine Surgery in Los Angeles and found some interesting things that I think deserve a discussion. When performing this search, I was surprised to find that one of the top listings was an advertisement for the Reed procedure and the Omega procedure, both commonly (and incorrectly) thought of…
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Headaches are a problem we may not be surprised to experience now and then. When a person has headaches 15 or more days out of each month, we refer to this as chronic daily headaches. This state of being may involve tension headaches, cluster headaches, or migraines. Sometimes, it is a combination of different headaches…
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Weather can be a trigger for migraines as well as several other headache syndromes. I’m finding that this time of year in Southern California, and even in Colorado where my Denver office is located, can be the worst time of year for those yearning for headache relief. Los Angeles recorded record-breaking temperatures of 121 degrees…
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Want to learn more? Click here to read a blog post discussing Air Quality, Smoke and Migraine Headaches.
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Want to learn more? Click here to read a blog post discussing Why the Nerve Block from a Neurologist Made Things Worse.
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Migraine pain can affect every aspect of life. The more frequent these headaches are, the worse their repercussions can be. A study published in the Journal of Headache and Pain has shed light on the short- and long-term impact experienced by those who suffer migraines. More than 11,000 patients participated in this study, which ended…
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I had a discussion with a patient recently who was interested in finding relief from her headaches, and as usual, sent me a list of her medications along with her long history of migraines. In reviewing her medical history, I had to do a double-take… she listed Excedrin as her primary medication, and she takes…
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Headaches are a common occurrence among adults of all ages. The World Health Organization reports that an estimated 50 million adults worldwide are affected by some type of headache disorder, in which painful symptoms occur regularly. A wide variety of nervous system conditions are encompassed within the term “headache disorder.” The two most common types…
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Migraine pain can interfere with your ability to engage in life the way you’d like. It doesn’t take much effort to find a variety of remedies and treatments aimed at reducing the frequency and severity of migraine headaches. What may take a little more effort than expected is finding a solution that works. Here, we…
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You don’t have to have COVID-19 to have a Coronavirus related headache. Headaches in the age of Covid may be related to the virus itself but are likely a result of stress and its effect on your occipital nerves. Headaches are a very nonspecific symptom and can occur from a great many sources. Viruses such…
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The holiday season is typically a busy one. Even this year, many of the people we speak with are planning to attend holiday events either in person or virtually. For those with migraines, an increase in activity and stress or any change in routine can trigger head pain and other symptoms. There is no time…
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As disabling as migraine headaches can be, it is a condition that people get used to over time. This may sound odd. How can one get used to debilitating headaches? It isn’t that migraines lose their power; it’s simply that people know the pain they know. As a result of this familiarity, there can be…
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Listen to the podcast on our Headache 360 Podcast page here Welcome to the Headache 360 podcast, a place to listen and learn about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic headache and migraine pain, because information can be the best medicine. Dr. Lowenstein: Hello, and welcome to the Headache 360 podcast. This is your host,…
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At the beginning of the 21st Century, we understood little about the relationship between smoking and migraines. The scientific community had determined that smoking poses several health concerns, but some still believed that this habit might even decrease migraines. This theory relates to the idea that smoking decreases stress and anxiety. More recently, data suggest…
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Migraines are a frustrating problem for many adults. These persistent headaches can be temporarily debilitating, though treatment options have been relatively limited for some time. You may have only recently discovered that there is such a thing as a migraine specialist. Historically, chronic, severe headaches have been managed by primary care physicians and neurologists. So…
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Millions of Americans experience frequent headaches. Migraines, and sometimes cluster headaches, may occur with such intensity that one must retreat from their daily activities for a time. The migraines that occur are as unique as each individual who experiences them. They can have multiple triggers and may respond differently to management strategies at different times.…
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Migraines can be an enormous obstacle to living your best life. Still, many of the people who experience these intense headaches feel somewhat lost when it comes to finding “the right” treatment. Migraine surgery might offer a glimmer of hope but, also, is migraine surgery brain surgery? Is it risky? Is it effective? The real…
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The term “migraine surgery” was coined as a simplified way for the public to understand that there is a surgical procedure to improve migraine headache symptoms. In fact, the more appropriate name for this procedure is “nerve decompression surgery for the relief of headache and migraine symptoms.” That’s a bit too wordy, but unfortunately, the…
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This 4th of July, watching the fireworks from my backyard got me thinking about how severe headache and migraine can feel like fireworks going on inside your head. As I thought through this, I actually think that fireworks is an interesting analogy to explain how nerve decompression prevents migraine pain. If you think of the…
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Migraines are more than a frustrating headache one gets from time to time. The severity of migraines can be debilitating. Even if only for a short while, having to exit stage right and bow out of day-to-day life can take a toll on emotional wellness. In recent years, the medical community has evolved to bring…
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Welcome to the Headache 360 podcast, a place to listen and learn about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic headache and migraine pain, because information can be the best medicine. Dr. Lowenstein: Hey, everybody. Welcome to a mixed media. We’re going to be doing this both by video and as our next episode of the…
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Dr. Lowenstein: We are here. Well, why don’t you guys introduce yourselves? Kinsey: I’m Kinsey. Jill: I’m Jill. Dr. Lowenstein: And Jill is Kinsey’s … Jill: Mom. Dr. Lowenstein: Mom. So Kinsey, tell me about how, what your life was two years ago, three years ago, five years ago, et cetera. Kinsey: So I started…
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Introduction: Welcome to the Headache 360 podcast, a place to listen and learn about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic headache and migraine pain because information can be the best medicine. Dr. Lowenstein: Hello and welcome to the Headache 360 podcast. I am your host Dr. Adam Lowenstein. I am a board certified plastic surgeon…
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A traffic accident in Los Angeles? Football injury in college? Even the recent surge in popularity of kickboxing has produced too many head trauma patients that experience chronic migraine headaches after their injury. I recently had an interesting conversation with a woman who had “post-concussion” headaches, but when I asked if she had isolated trauma…
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A young lady was in my office recently, and like so many patients with pain from migraine headaches and/or occipital neuralgia, she had been too many many doctors before me. We discussed the possibility of doing Targeted Injection Mapping, and she became very emotional. She had been through so much over the past three years…
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A common question we are asked as migraine surgeons is whether or not obtaining pain relief with a nerve block is necessary to be a candidate for migraine surgery. In other words, if your neurologist or pain doctor gives you a nerve block and it does not change your pain or symptoms at all, might…
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I”m very excited about our newest venture, which will involve bringing our successes in providing migraine relief to Denver Colorado. This will provide a more central access point to so many migraine sufferers in the central part of the United States, including Arizona, Kansas, Wyoming, and Utah. I was fortunate enough to live and practice…
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This is a quick little video to help explain the differences between using local anesthesia for a diagnostic nerve block and using Botox for a longer term therapeutic nerve block. Please ask questions if you are interested in more information… Call us at 805-969-9004 so we can help clear things up!
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Why do patients from Los Angeles or Las Vegas travel to visit the Migraine Surgery Specialty Center for Migraine Relief? Dr. Lowenstein’s interest in migraine surgery stems from personal experience. From a very young age, Dr. Lowenstein has personally experienced the pain of chronic migraines, and understands like few other doctors do what a migraine…
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As many now know, microvascular decompression of several nerves in the head and neck is a proven successful therapy for the relief of migraine headaches. I was very happy to read the recent Policy Statement put forth but the American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the Plastic Surgery Research Foundation. This important paper provides an…
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Last week I did several Facebook Live “events” about the newest migraine drug Aimovig, a CGRP antagonist released last week from Amgen. (You can see those and other videos here.) There is much to be excited about. Aimovig is the first drug specifically developed for migraines. The other migraine drugs that are used for migraines…
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In answering questions from Facebook groups and patients here in the office, it is becoming clear to me that many migraine sufferers may not understand that there is a BIG difference between cervical decompression surgery and the type of nerve decompression that we migraine surgeons perform in order to provide migraine relief. What is Cervical…
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A frequent question I get asked involves nerve injections that make things worse rather than better. Many times nerves blocks work just as they are supposed to but when they don’t, patients are often left trying to figure out why??? So what happens when nerve blocks make the pain worse? Remember that nerve blocks…
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While we wish it never happened, an infrequent occurrence following migraine surgery is the return of headache pain. Just like any surgical procedure, migraine operations do have their rare failures, and in the case of migraine surgery, the failure rate is, fortunately, less than 10%. If you have a presence on social media, you may…
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Why ME? So often a question I get from migraine headache patients is a derivative of “Why me?” “What did I do to bring on these migraines?” “What can I change so these migraine headaches stop?” “Why are these migraines so bad for me but nobody else?” So just to address the last question specifically,…
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It seems there is often much misunderstanding surrounding the terminology pertaining to headaches. While “migraine headache” is indeed a specific diagnosis, there are many subtypes of migraines with terminology that can get confusing. Additionally, many headache sufferers have not yet seen a neurologist to get a migraine diagnosis, and others have diagnoses such as “chronic…
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For better or for worse, nerve decompression to provide relief from headaches and neck aches has been come to be known as “migraine surgery” because many chronic headache patients carry a diagnosis of migraine disease. It’s true that “Migraine Surgery” rolls off of the tongue better than “Peripheral Nerve Decompression Surgery for the Treatment of…
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Ever have that dream where you are in crazy Los Angeles traffic and need to be somewhere but can’t get there and then… you wake up to a migraine? Out in the desert outside of Phoenix or Las Vegas and it’s crazy hot and you cant get cool or water and you wake up to…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hi, and welcome to the Headache 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. Again, what we’re doing here is trying to take a 360 degree view of headache and migraine pain. As such, some of you will know that I am a migraine and headache surgeon. I do nerve decompression, but people…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hi. Welcome back to the Headache 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein, and I’ve got a amazing guest today. As I think many of you know, I’m a migraine surgeon. I do peripheral nerve decompression for migraines, and a lot of my patients have spent time in emergency rooms, and so…
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Welcome to the Headache 360 Podcast, a place to listen and learn about the diagnosis and treatment of chronic headache and migraine pain, because information can be the best medicine. Hey, and welcome again to our podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. And today, we are … Today, you just got me. We are…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hello and welcome to The Headache 360 Podcast. This is your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. And as I’m imagining most of you know by now, I’m a migraine surgeon. I do nerve decompression for migraine and chronic headaches. And my goal here is to try and get some information from lots of different…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hi, and welcome to the Headache 360 Podcast, I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. And as I’ve said many times before, I am a migraine and chronic headache surgeon. I do nerve decompression of peripheral nerves for chronic headaches and migraines. Dr. Lowenstein: And the purpose of this podcast, that I call the…
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There seem to be quite a number of questions online about instructions and expectations before and after surgery. With that in mind, I thought I would share our “guidelines” for migraine surgery. Please call our Center at 805-969-9004 with any questions you might have….. Guidelines for Headache Surgery Before your surgery • Maintaining a well…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hi, and welcome to the Headache 360 podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. As we’ve discussed many times before on this podcast, my goal here is to try and get some expertise from specialists who patients with chronic headaches and migraines will often see during a course of their care. Today, we…
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A great case yesterday had some anatomic features that I thought worth showing. This gentleman was a firefighter who had an accident at work and following this developed debilitating migraines. For privacy purposes we will call him Frank here. Frank is from Denver, and as such he had seen several doctors including Denver neurologists who…
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There are going to be a lot of folks who respond to this without reading further, who will insist that there is no cure for migraine headaches, and who don’t want to consider things outside of their personal experience. The following discussion is for everyone else…. Google the word “cure” and you will find the…
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Adam Lowenstein: Hi and welcome to the Headache 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein, and today I have a great guest who is arguably overqualified to be talking to me. Dr. Prabu Raman is a physiologic neuromuscular dentist, and I have to admit that I did not know such a specialized specialty existed…
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Dizziness, imbalance, and disorientation in headache and neck pain patients One of the most frequent questions posted to facebook on migraine headaches and tension headaches forums involves some aspect of dizziness, imbalance, and disorientation. While headache patients may be used to pain, waking up dizzy or having balance issues with or without pain can be…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hi and welcome to the Headache 360 podcast. I am your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. We have a fantastic repeat guest today, Dr. Hossein Ansari, who is the head of the headache clinic at University of California, San Diego. This is our second in hopefully a series with Dr. Ansari, but you can…
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Dr. Lowenstein: Hi and welcome to the Headache 360 Podcast. I’m your host, Dr. Adam Lowenstein. I have a really interesting guest today and a very unique one. Jamie Sanders is a blogger and I guess I personally think even more importantly, a patient and migraine advocate, an advocate for patients with migraine. She has…
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Does migraine surgery work for daily persistent headaches? What about for new daily persistent headaches? How about for chronic daily headaches? Migraines? Tension headaches? So many diagnoses behind the pain of severe headaches, you can get a migraine just thinking about it. Short answer to all of the questions above is “Yes.” Additionally, nerve decompression,…
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